The aggressively competitive automobile industry continuously strives to provide new and exciting features to the new model automobiles. A focus toward creature comforts and safety has been a major factor in differentiating one competitor's products from others and from premium models from budget models. Some of these features include motorized window winders, mirror positioners, mirror defoggers, keyless/wireless/remote entry systems, motorized door locks, side impact air bags, and sound system components such as door-mounted loudspeakers.
With many automobile owners not satisfied with the style, quality, and availability of the features provided by the automakers, owners have turned to aftermarket component manufacturers and even automobile kit manufacturers for satisfaction. The aftermarket component manufacturers are providing the automobile owner with an ever increasing selection of components to add to, replace, or modify the standard automobile features. Some of the features involve components for incorporation into the automobile door, which presents the challenge of providing electrical communication between door-mounted components and chassis-mounted components, such as power and signal-generating components.
Electrical communication between the automobile door, or any movable or hinged member, to the chassis-mounted components have been facilitated with the use of wiring or door switches. Electrical wires traversing the space between the door and the chassis presents problems, particularly when the door is open. These problems include potential for damage, wear, and limitations on the opening characteristics of the door itself. A significant problem is presented where additional electrical components are added to the door which require the routing of additional wires in the already over crowded wire pass-throughs. The placement location of the wires traversing between the chassis and the door is limited to the pivot region of the door. This limitation is required to minimize the length of wiring needed to traverse the gap between the chassis and the door, as well as to minimize the potential for wire damage.
As an alternative to exposed wires and for ease of placement, electrical contact switches have been used for components that are usually not operable when the door is open. The contact switch components are mounted on the door and chassis in facing relationship such that they make contact when the door is closed. The circuit connected to the switch is open when the door is open and closed when the door is closed. Electrical switches negate the need for wire pass-throughs between the chassis and the door for those components wherein an open circuit can be tolerated when the door is open. This relieves the problems associated with exposed wiring. But, the problem of expandability remains. Adding additional electrical components to the door and chassis is complicated by the type, placement and rewiring associated with the additional switches. The addition of one or more door electrical components requires the installation of one or more additional contact switches, or a single switch with additional circuits.
Accordingly, there is a need for an electrical contact switch that provides the capability for expansion of the number of circuits while negating the need for costly, time consuming, and labor intensive switch replacement, door and chassis modification, and wire routing.